With the presidential debates over, the election of the next president of the United States remains in the hands of millions of voters on Nov. 8. Real estate mogul Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, and former Secretary of State and Senator Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee. Aside from them, voters may also consider Libertarian Gary Johnson, the Green Party’s Jill Stein, and Gloria Estela La Riva of the Party for Peace and Freedom. Though few Aragon students are able to vote, many are still invested and opinionated about this election.
The lead up to this election has by no means been conventional; the candidates, their actions, and the media’s coverage of them have been atypical to say the least. Regarding the lead up to the election, government teacher Jon Felder says, “It has been more contentious than normal in the sense that both of the candidates are trading criticisms of each other, and you see really wide differences on the policy issues, and just the fact that Trump is such an unusual candidate, having only a business background and no political experience.”
Despite negativity on both sides of the election, many students still support one candidate over the other. Junior John Strickley, who identifies with the Republican Party, says, “I would vote for the great Donald J. Trump. I like his plan to cut business regulations and enforce immigration laws. I think that Trump’s expertise as a businessman means he has got what it takes to get this country back into shape economically.”
Since Aragon is located in a particularly liberal area, there is no doubt that there are plenty of people who associate with the Democratic Party at Aragon. Desmond Ergina says, “I think I would vote for Hillary since I agree with her stances on many issues … I also think that she has political experience, unlike Trump, as a former senator and secretary of state.”
Junior Daniel Jadallah identifies as a Democrat but is reluctant to vote for Clinton. He says, “I don’t like Clinton, but I really don’t like Trump; if I could vote, I would grudgingly vote for Hillary Clinton as the lesser of two evils … With Clinton, there’s a sense of intelligence and political savvy, but with Trump, I feel like he’s all talk, trying to bluster and bravado his way into power that he has no idea how to use.”
Some people are so disappointed by the current candidates that they would rather not vote at all. Identifying as a Republican, junior Amanda Kujiraoka says, “I would probably abstain from voting … I just don’t feel like I can vote for either one in good conscience.”
Media coverage of this election also plays a role in making the election the way it is, and some people are not satisfied. Jadallah says, “I think the media has done a good job of showing us the character flaws of both … but I still feel very unclear on what their actual policy plans are. It just feels like the media is focusing more on the personality of the candidate than what they plan to do when in office.”
